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User blog:Lordkenyon/Character Profile: Kjalek
Character Profiles are a description of my characters, an explanation their creation, and a discussion of them in general. Most of them will be shorter and better written than this one. Kjalek is a bit of a keystone, for better or for worse. Enjoy. Name: Kjalek First-Hammer, Kenyon(alias) Race: Nord Age: 35-40(first appearance) 45-55(final appearance) Status: Dead Weapons: Claymore, massive crossbow, dagger Armor: Full plate armor. Becomes more damaged and worn with each appearance Story: During Kjalek’s first battle as a legionnaire, his superior was killed and his unit was breaking. He rallied the soldiers and led a furious charge. The unit took immense casualties, but the Stormcloak counterattack was flanked, winning the battle. The Legate named Kjalek a hero, gave him command of his unit, and assigned him to Skyrim’s backwater regions. Kjalek’s sanity was somewhat fragile, and under mounting frustration and stress he became increasingly desperate to be a hero again. Kjalek told his men of Stormcloaks in a nearby village, and ordered them to put it to the torch and sword. Kjalek led his men in a rampage across Skyrim. The few taken prisoner were tortured and branded. Three villages fell as Kjalek went rouge and descended into madness. His men eventually saw through his lies and revolted, bringing him to justice. Since knowledge of his crimes could lead all of Skyrim to rebel the Empire couldn’t risk a public execution, and Kjalek was imprisoned, where he realized what he had done. To cope, he developed dual personalities: the hero he wanted to be and the monster he was. In time the Empire moved the rambling madman and several others to Black Marsh. Kjalek escaped when bandits mistook the convoy for a tax shipment and struck. He ran to Morrowind, where his madness faded and he became a sellsword. He wed, and took his bride to High Rock. They were poor, but his wife was content. Kjalek, wanting better for her, set off to loot a crypt in Skyrim rumored hold many riches. When he arrived the crypt was empty, the rumors a trap set by enemies he didn’t know he had. Kjalek rushed back home, but was far too late. He went to the crypt, crushed by sorrow and knowing it was what the murderers wanted. The floor of the chamber was coated with oil, as his foes planned to burn his corpse. They were survivors of Kjalek’s rampage, seekers of justice. He killed all but one, instead crippling his legs. He threw a torch as he exited the chamber, smiling as the oil lit and the screams began. Kjalek wandered for years in search of death. Years passed, and he fought Nahlgaaf, who escaped and tried to kill him several times. In the Reach, he met a group of adventurers who would play a great role in Tamriel’s history. The group disbanded and Kjalek spent the next months in Solitude. He rejoined the group, and fell in love. Unsure of himself, and guessing Nahlgaaf’s identity, he fled once the quest was complete. When his friends met him again he was working for the Cammona Tong. Nahlgaaf had joined the group, and the two promptly fought. They were forced into a temporary truce, which was broken when Nahlgaaf stabbed Kjalek as group split up. To aid his friends, Kjalek hired the Ashen Sons, and led the sellswords during the Battle of Imperial City. He faked his death afterwards, fleeing again. Ferylis Zynmel, an old friend in the Cammona Tong, used Kjalek to take control of the Tong, and provided everything needed to kill Nahlgaaf. Kjalek’s madness reasserted itself as he and Nahlgaaf played a deadly game of cat and mouse, with countless innocents dying in the crossfire. Nahlgaaf and a group of mercenaries faced Kjalek in Mist-Fyrd Crypt, where Nahlgaaf had been burned long ago. Nahlgaaf claimed that Mist-Fyrd lay beneath an underground lake and destroyed the roof, unleashing a flood of water and rock. In an act of heroism, Kjalek helped the betrayed mercenaries escape. As they reached the exit, a mass of plunging stone hit Kjalek, and the floor broke away. He plunged away in a shower of stone and water. Kjalek awoke on the shores of Lake Ilinata. His leg was crippled and the side of his face was a pulpy ruin, yet his madness was gone. He saw this as a gift from the gods, finally accepting responsibility for his past and resolving to be the hero he’d long ago given up trying to be. When his crippled leg failed him time and time again, he began to believe he was too weak to help people. After months of depression, Kjalek First-Hammer brought his own life to a close. Origins/Development of the Character: The character that I eventually named Kjalek started out fairly different. He was a wealthy nord who lived in a Solitude mansion, having made himself rich by pillaging the draugr crypts of his ancestors. He was an eloquent speaker, though still a skilled fighter and able to use simple dragon shouts. He was also significantly younger, being in his mid-twenties at the most. This version evolved, becoming older and more of a warrior. Eventually his backstory deepened, he had once fought a rival adventurer to the death in a nordic crypt. His opponent had been something of a battlemage, and “Kjalek” had driven a sword through him while being bathed in fire. This was eventually changed, and Kjalek’s first encounter with Nahlgaaf is a nod to this. Kjalek became a sellsword, and acquired a claymore. He no longer had a mansion, and was much less eloquent. He gained death-seeker tendencies. He used the name Kenyon at this time, as I was somewhat conceited. His first appearance was in LabCoatBilly’s “Monster Hunter” RP, and his first line makes me cringe to this day. “If I wanted you dead, we’d be wading through your blood right now” Introductions aside, he didn’t do much to establish himself. He did whittle during his downtime, establishing his hobby of woodcarving, which is one of my favorite things about the character. Little else of importance was revealed about him. His next appearance began his development in earnest. His armor received its first major damage, the left shoulder plate being struck by a giant Daedroth’s fireball. He discarded the melting steel, and in later appearances wraps his shoulder in chainmail to provide protection for it. If I recall, he first meets Peri in this RP, and that goes approximately nowhere. His madness is established, but I play it out in a rather hackneyed way that I now regret. He has gained his dagger at this point, and it is sheathed to his wrist. A mechanism is able to pop the knife out and into his hand. In later appearances it becomes a simple sheath, to avoid the Assassin’s Creed vibe. After he helps save the world at the end of the RP he nopes out with an Elder Scroll, abandoning Peri and alluding to Nahlgaaf as a looming threat. He returns once more in The Fallen RP, believed by me to be LabCoatBilly’s magnum opus. He now has his crossbow and uses it to kill a horse, much to EfmRider’s chagrin (I’m sorry, ok?). His connections to the Cammona Tong are alluded to, and his violent confrontations with Nahlgaaf, along with Nahl’s horrible injuries, suggest a shared past. He meets with Ferylis Zynmel to acquire the Ashen Sons, and the identity of his dead wife is alluded to. He commands his troops during the final battle, and fakes his death, making it seem as if the Ashen Son’s murdered their employer after the battle. Peri, likely sick of his crap at this point, gave no shits. Kjalek’s personality expands, and a darker side of him is able to be seen when he interacts with Nahl. He next would have appeared in The Hunt, an RP about Nahlgaaf’s quest to kill him, as the primary antagonist. I fucked up big, and that RP died. The only notable thing about The Hunt is that it established that Kjalek’s eyes are blue, with unnatural gray streaks. Kjalek had read the elder scroll in between The Fallen and The Hunt, and the gray streaks were supposed to signify his damaged vision. Kjalek’s fate was meant to be left as a somewhat ambiguous death after The Hunt, but I kept making Kjaleks pop up elsewhere. Breldon’s travelling companion in one RP was supposed to be what remains of Kjalek, and that companion later betrayed Breldon. Kjalek kills himself a few months afterwards. Kjalek appeared for one last go in The End Times RP, resurrected to stop the end of the world. Everyone else was too, don’t judge. The RP died, and so, at last, did Kjalek. Other: * Kjalek’s hobbies include woodcarving * Kjalek is totally chill with horses * Kjalek spent a few years in Elsweyr before joining the Legion * Kjalek’s time in Morrowind after his escape from prison is the only underdeveloped part of his story * Kjalek adopted the dunmer religion in morrowind * He does not make a big deal of religion, but on occasion mutters a prayer to Boethiah * Kjalek is related to another one of my characters, sort of * His original name of Kenyon is explained to be an alias, used when he lived in High Rock in order to appear as a breton to anyone looking through tax records. So, what do you think of Kjalek? Did he become the hero he always wanted to be, and just didn’t realize it? Was he a villain through and through? Did you actually read this far down? Feel free to share any thoughts on the character, opinions on his development, suggestions to improve Character Profiles, and anything else fairly on topic. Category:Blog posts